OH died, mortgage in his name - have arrears - need mortgage in my name to stay

[suzanna.s]

i so need some help and the internet is a minefield and just giving me headache i wondered if you could advise

 

 

My husband died 30 aug 2013

very suddenly had heart disease and didnt know aged 44

 

we have 3 children 20 18 and 6 the older two not being biologically his

 

my husband had got hiself into trouble before dying with money

i didnt know he had cancelled life insurance

house insurance

everything in a effort to pay bills

 

the mortgage is solely in his name and my husband had also ( not known to me messed with my credit rating too )

 

his bank the halifax gave me a little break after he died to allow me to pay for funeral

( did NOT advise ) this would incrue charges so mortgage would go into arrears

now they wont change property into my name due to these arrears 2300 worth

 

i need house in my name as i cant afford the mortgage as it stands

 

mortgage 69k value 87k and term while my husband had it 18 yrs

 

all i want is it extending to 30 yrs to bring the payments down so we dont loose our family home

 

i moved in here with my husband in 1998 and have paid through i just didnt go on mortgage as it was his mums old council house

and the mortgage at first was him and his mum ( for the disc)

and then a few years later he remortgaged and put it solely into his name

 

what can i do anything ???

[Desperate Daniella]

Hi Suzanna, and Welcome to CAG!

 

I am so sorry for your loss.

 

I'm going to ask some people to come to your thread to help you, so hold on.

 

DD

[ims21]

Two threads merged

[suzanna.s]

Thank you.

 

 

 

Hi Suzanna, and Welcome to CAG!

 

I am so sorry for your loss.

 

I'm going to ask some people to come to your thread to help you, so hold on.

 

DD

[citizenB]

I am sorry to hear of your loss, such a young man

 

Did your husband leave a will ?

[suzanna.s]

Hello

 

No will either ive had to give his xar up most creditors have left me alone its jist the house mess left now

 

I am sorry to hear of your loss, such a young man

 

Did your husband leave a will ?

[citizenB]

Right, well you arent responsible for any debt left by your husband that was solely in his name (sadly this would appear to include the mortgage). So his creditors should not be pestering you. If they do, then let us know and we can deal with things on a case by case basis.

 

I am sure there will be others looking in this evening/over the weekend with more advice for you.

 

Do you know if you are going to be entitled to any state benefits?

[Ell-enn]

Hi Suzanna, I'm so sorry to hear of your loss, I lost my husband a young age too and it just doesn't seem fair

 

 

When you say Halifax gave you a break - do you mean they gave you a payment holiday for mortgage payments? I don't understand how charges can make the mortgage go into arrears. If you can explain better what the arrangement was with Halifax we can go from there

 

 

We also need to know if there was a will.

 

 

Are you working at present and would your salary be enough to get you a mortgage in your own right ?

[Lea_HTH]

The first thing that springs to mind is that you state you lived in the house when it was mortgaged by your husband and his mother (to buy it), and he then subsequently remortgaged whilst you were living in it...if that is the case, then your matrimonial home rights exist before the mortgage, and even if there are arrears on the mortgage, the mortgage company will have a harder time trying to gain a possession order against the house.

 

Matrimonial home rights are a complicated area of law - so I'd suggest, strongly, that you seek the assistance of CAB, Shelter, or preferably a solicitor if you can afford one IF they start possession proceedings. Ell is correct though - they cannot start possession proceedings on the basis of charges.

 

As your husband died intestate, and his estate seems quite small (value of the house is low), then it would seem likely that you will inherit the house under intestacy rules. If Halifax want their money, they are doing themselves no favours by their current actions, as it makes sense to allow you to adjust the loan in order to repay them. But you do not have to remortgage with the Halifax, so you can look at other banks (though avoid subprime lenders - stick to the high street), get an offer in principle and then inform the Halifax that you will be paying them off and can they provide a redemption figure. You will in effect be 'buying' the house from yourself...though of course you are not, it's just a matter of getting the money for the outstanding loan from a new mortgagee.

[suzanna.s]

Hello

yes i get widows parent pension and child tax credit and working tax credit but this still isnt enough for me to cover bills and mortgage as it stands. all i need is the bank to extend the mortgage to bring payments lower and ill pay but its just too much at the min

they never told me while i was on payment holiday to pay his funeral it would acrue arrears and now they are using this as the excuse as the reason they wont transfer mortgage into my name

i do have a appt with housing on wed to look at the mortgage rescue scheme though

i do also work

Edited January 24, 2014 by suzanna.s

[citizenB]

suzanna, have you read the posts by Lea and Ellen ? They offer some good advice

[suzanna.s]

if i dont make the full payments every month can they evict me, and yes i lived here when it was purchased, it just made more sense at the time for my husnabd and his mother to buy it from council at discounted rate rather than him and myself

[citizenB]

if i dont make the full payments every month can they evict me, and yes i lived here when it was purchased, it just made more sense at the time for my husnabd and his mother to buy it from council at discounted rate rather than him and myself

 

Have a read of Leah's post number 9 - you will see she provides some reassurance regarding possession.

[suzanna.s]

when i called to advise jamie had died and ask them how / what i was going to do they said and i quote dont worry we cant talk to you yet anyway as you dont have probate concentrate on paying the funeral we are giving you a paymnt holiday for 6 mth by that time you would have probate - i used this time to pay for the funeral and called them after 5 months when i had probate thats when i was advised we cant transfer ownership due to the arrears accrued on account during the payment holiday

hope this makes more sense - sorry

also no there wasnt a will and and no life insurance jamie had cancelled it in the feb as he died in aug

[suzanna.s]

im sorry to hear of your loss too ell-enn, its a terrible thing to happen i had 17 yrs with the love of my life thats more than most couples have so im happy with what i had no matter how cruely it was taken away he was and always be my man. i do hope your coping too.

[Ell-enn]

A payment holiday means payments are suspended for the period agreed, and then re-started when the period is over- payments suspended for that time should not be counted as arrears. It sounds as if they didn't put the payment holiday in place but just let the missed payments mount up for 6 months. Did they put anything in writing about the payment holiday ? Did you get the name of the person you spoke to ?

[suzanna.s]

to be honest no i didnt get a name it was the halifax bereavement team and i spoke to them roughly around 2 weeks after jamie died just after the funeral, i wasnt really with it back then was still in shock

[citizenB]

In respect of mortgages the banks are supposed to record the calls - so the chances are as this is fairly recent, they will have a recording of the call to the Bereavement team.

 

I was going to suggest sending a Subject Access Request, I am pretty sure that as executor of the estate that you will be able to obtain this. It is a request for all data relating to the financial relationship and should include a recording or transcript of the call you made.

 

I wonder if Ellen can confirm if my thinking is correct in this please ?

[Lea_HTH]

I think you need to speak to the bereavement team again, as you are the administrator for the estate - they have to deal with you.

 

If the arrears are actual missed payments, then they can start possession proceedings.

 

It would appear, given your financial circumstances, that MRS is possibly the best route for you. If possession proceedings are started, you can provide the court with a letter from the local authority stating that they are assessing an application for MRS for you.

 

In the meantime, if you are able, make as much payment as you can so that the arrears do not rise any further - or at least don't rise by the full CMI each month.

 

As I stated previously - your matrimonial home rights have a role to play and you need to speak to a solicitor/CAB/Shelter with regards to this.

 

There isn't much else to say until you've seen the local authority with regards to MRS.

[rdm2006]

MRS= Mortgage Rescue Scheme (sell to rent) - I have been through this process - in the staffordshire area the council will send you to the Citizens Advice who process the MRS - your council may do the same so book an appointment with CAB they will be able to give you good advice in either case.

 

 

I now rent the house which i used to own which was an ex council house anyway, they are usually quite open to buying these back and if you rent you may also be entitled to housing benefit too.

 

any work that needs doing to the house (if at all) will be done by the council/housing association once it is purchased.